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Northland novel series lands international publisher, hits Audible
Young adult sci-fi dystopian novel Moneyland and its sequel Payback, written by Whangarei author Michael Botur (left), have been acquired by UK-Japanese-Finnish publisher Next Chapter and the audiobook versions are being released on Audible from October - a first for a Northlander. The books - which tell the story of heroine Eden Shepherd trying to protect her family while trapped under a biodome with nothing to eat and nothing to spend money on - were released in June and September 2022, following five years of development.
The first book in the series, Moneyland, was written by Botur in 2017 and an initial version of the novel was published thanks to a Northland-based crowdfunding campaign, plus assistance with publicity from Channel North and Creative Northland.
Thanks to Boosted.org.nz and contributions which came half from Northlanders and half from supporters around the world, Moneyland enjoyed an initial print run in 2017 and 2018.
Botur wrote the sequel, Payback, over the summers of 2019 and 2020 and finally matched with a supportive publisher in early 2022, rebranding the books as the Lockdownland series.
In August and September 2022, Next Chapter arranged Moneyland for Amazon’s audiobook platform Audible, with the recording completed by Canadian voice artist Lessa Nosko.
Botur said he is excited not only to release two books to a group of fans who have been waiting for a sequel, but is also excited to become the first Northlander to have a book accepted for publication by Audible.
Exactly five years ago, Botur published an essay about the ups of crowdfunding - as well as plenty of downs.
“I’d developed a bit of a cult following for the first iteration of Moneyland and a couple dozen people loved the book - though I knew New Zealand was a dead end and I really needed a publisher to take the book worldwide. I’d promised a few readers in places like the US and Canada that there would be a sequel, because Moneyland ends on a cliffhanger. Announcing a sequel was basically a dare to myself to get the damn thing written.”
“February 2019, as soon as I dropped my son off at primary school in Whangarei every morning I would go across the road and write one or two chapters in a cafe. It was hard and thankless and there seemed no hope of getting anything published.
“Next Chapter promised to be rapid, versatile, easy to work with and to actually pay royalties instead of costing the author money. So that’s been cool and to get a novel or two on Audible is a dream come true for any author. Let’s hope the book reaches lots of people and inspires other writers.”
